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History of the Principle of Interference of Light

  • Book
  • © 1991

Overview

Authors:
  1. Nahum Kipnis

    1. The Bakken, Minneapolis, USA

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Part of the book series: Science Networks. Historical Studies (SNHS, volume 5)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages 1-11
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  2. The Concept of interference: Historiography and physics

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 13-24

  3. Thomas Young and the problem of intersecting sounds

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 25-46

  4. Young and interference of mechanical waves

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 47-63

  5. Discovery of the principle of interference of light

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 65-90

  6. Young’s theory of interference and its application

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 91-137

  7. The response to the principle of interference (1801–1815)

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 138-164

  8. Fresnel and the principle of interference

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 165-198

  9. Response to Fresnel’s principle of interference

    • Nahum Kipnis
    Pages 199-241

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 242-271
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Keywords

About this book

The controversy between the wave theory and the emission theory of light early in the nineteenth century has been a subject of numerous studies. Yet many is­ sues remain unclear, in particular, the reasons for rejecting Young's theory of light. It appears that further progress in the field requires a better grasp of the overall situation in optics and related subjects at the time and a more thorough study of every factor suggested to be of importance for the dispute. This book is intended to be a step in this direction. It examines the impact of the concept of interference of light on the development of the early nineteenth­ century optics in general, and the theory of light, in particular. This is not a his­ tory of the wave theory of light, nor is it a history of the debate on the nature of light in general: it covers only that part of the controversy which involved the concept of interference. Although the book deals with a number of scientists, scientific institutions, and journals, its main character is a scientific concept, the principle of interference. While discussing the reasons for accepting or rejecting this concept I have primarily focused on scientific factors, although in some cases the human factor is examined as well. The book is a revised Ph. D. dissertation (University of Minnesota, 1984) writ­ ten under Alan E. Shapiro.

Authors and Affiliations

  • The Bakken, Minneapolis, USA

    Nahum Kipnis

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